Summary:
Welcome to another great episode of Startup Junkies!
On this episode, hosts Caleb Talley, Jeff Amerine, and Victoria Dickerson sit down with Rodrigo Salas, executive director of Entrepreneurship for All Northwest Arkansas, also known as EforAll. EforAll is a nonprofit entrepreneurial support organization that partners with communities to help under-represented NWA residents successfully start and grow businesses. It works to ensure all individuals are presented with the same opportunities, especially through its Spanish program, EparaTodos. Throughout the show, Rodrigo discusses his entrepreneurship background, his passion for NWA’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, and how EforAll provides value to Hispanic entrepreneurs in the form of mentorships and programs.
Show Notes:
(1:01) Introduction to Rodrigo
(1:41) Rodrigo’s Origin Story
(8:26) About EforAll
(13:03) The Importance of Bilingual Resources
(18:33) Filling Bilingual Service Gaps
(21:35) Building Bridges within the Community
(24:54) About Chamoy
(31:39) What’s on the Horizon for NWA
(37:18) Advice to Younger Self
(38:43) Closing Questions
Links:
Quotes:
“It’s between an incubator and an accelerator because what we do is get deep into business understanding because a lot of the people that come through our program are struggling with that part, like knowing how to structure the business or determine who is their customer segment.” – Rodrigo Salas, (10:36)
“We all know that networks make a big difference for success…Every touchpoint they have with anybody from the community helps them expand their network. So that’s the objective of the program as well.” – Rodrigo Salas, (17:10)
“We’re experiencing this tremendous growth from a population perspective, from an economic perspective, and from an entrepreneurial perspective…So looking at the size of the ecosystem that has been built here in Northwest Arkansas, it’s amazing.” – Rodrigo Salas, (31:42)
Supporting Entrepreneurship for All Communities with Rodrigo Salas
On this episode, hosts Caleb Talley, Jeff Amerine, and Victoria Dickerson sit down with Rodrigo Salas, executive director of Entrepreneurship for All Northwest Arkansas, also known as EforAll. EforAll is a nonprofit entrepreneurial support organization that partners with communities to help under-represented NWA residents successfully start and grow businesses. It works to ensure all individuals are presented with the same opportunities, especially through its Spanish program, EparaTodos. Throughout the show, Rodrigo discusses his entrepreneurship background, his passion for NWA’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, and how EforAll provides value to Hispanic entrepreneurs in the form of mentorships and programs.
Expanding Latino Entrepreneurship
EforAll’s mission is to help close opportunity equality gaps and create employment in cities identified as economically challenged. And although Northwest Arkansas is considered an economic success, EforAll still wants to ensure the region’s rapidly growing Hispanic population has access to entrepreneurial resources. As a result, EforAll championed its Spanish program EparaTodos to support Latino entrepreneurs in their endeavors to grow their businesses.
“It’s between an incubator and an accelerator because what we do is get deep into business understanding because a lot of the people that come through our program are struggling with that part, like knowing how to structure the business or determine who is their customer segment.” – Rodrigo Salas, (10:36)
EparaTodos strives to engage individuals who might not otherwise have access to entrepreneurial resources like state programs or professional networks. It focuses on accelerating economic and social impact through inclusive entrepreneurship. EforAll believes that when entrepreneurs have access to tools in their native language, it empowers them to keep striving to make their businesses better.
Breaking Language Barriers
Within EparaTodos there are two programs, an accelerator and a pitch contest. The accelerator is a free, one-year program that provides immersive business training, mentorship, and access to an extended professional network. And the pitch contest is a community-centered event that enables early-stage entrepreneurs to gain valuable exposure and feedback on their business ideas at no cost.
“We all know that networks make a big difference for success…Every touchpoint they have with anybody from the community helps them expand their network. So that’s the objective of the program as well.” – Rodrigo Salas, (17:10)
Additionally, every summer EparaTodos has a hybrid program that serves both English and Spanish-speaking communities simultaneously. The goal of this is to break language barriers as well as cultural barriers because, on top of the challenges entrepreneurs face when starting a business, there are also language and systematic struggles for out-of-country entrepreneurs. Overall, EparaTodos wants to establish the Northwest Arkansas entrepreneurial ecosystem as a safe and fun environment for all cultures to do business.
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